TIFFIN: Second one for 2015

My grandfather had a younger sister, Essie, who died very young from appendicitis complications. I have her first reader. It sits on a shelf near my Barbara Pyms.

The plan for 2015 is to clear off the TBR shelves some more, either by actually reading the stuff or purging it to a second hand shop. I'll be participating in the British Author Challenge, so two books each month will fit that criterion (BAC). Thirteenth Month : Bernice Rubens & Aldous Huxley if I don't like whoever is in a certain month.

JANUARY
1. Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro (BAC) ****
2. Consequences by Penelope Lively (BAC) ****1/2
3. Plainsong by Kent Haruf *****
4. New and Selected Poems, Volume One by Mary Oliver *****

FEBRUARY
Sarah Waters (BAC): may pass on her as I'm not a fan
Evelyn Waugh (BAC):
5. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro ****1/2
6. Lamentation by C.J. Sansom
7. The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson **.75 - ***

MARCH
Daphne du Maurier (BAC)
China Mieville: The City and the City **** cheated and read it in December 2014
8. Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world by Jack Weatherford
9. What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris
10. Why Mermaids Sing by C.S. Harris
11. Why Kings Confess by C.S. Harris
12. When Gods Die by C.S. Harris
13. Where Serpents Sleep by C.S. Harris
14. What Remains Heaven by C.S. Harris
15. When Maidens Mourn by C.S. Harris
16. Who Buries the Dead by C.S. Harris

APRIL
Angela Carter (BAC)
W. Somerset Maugham (BAC)
17. Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
18. The Treasure at Poldarrow Point by Clara Benson
19. Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb
20. Forest Mage by Robin Hobb
21. Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb

MAY
Margaret Drabble (BAC)
Martin Amis (BAC)
22. Marrying Out by Harold Carlton 4.5 stars

JUNE
Beryl Bainbridge (BAC)
Anthony Burgess (BAC)
23. Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
24. Mad Ship by Robin Hobb
25. Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb

JULY
Virginia Woolf (BAC): either Flush or the second book of her letters, the only two things I haven't read of hers
26. Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

AUGUST
Irish Murdoch (BAC):
Graham Greene (BAC):
27. The Blood Curse by Emily Gee
28. The Laurentine Spy by Emily Gee
29. No Time Like the Past by Jodi Taylor
30. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
31. What Darkness Brings by C.S. Harris
32. Thief With No Shadow by Emily Gee
33. Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet
34. A Fatal Winter by G.M. Malliet
35. Pagan Spring by G.M. Malliet
36. A Demon Summer by G.M. Malliet
37. Inda by Sherwood Smith
38. The Fox by Sherwood Smith
39. King's Shield by Sherwood Smith
40. Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith

SEPTEMBER
Andrea Levy (BAC): anything but Small Island, which I pearl ruled
Salman Rushdie (BAC): Midnight's Children
41. The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks
42. Lhind the Thief by Sherwood Smith
43. A Posse of Princesses by Sherwood Smith
44. The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks
45. Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks
46. Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks
47. Death at Dovecote Hatch by Dorothy Cannell
48. Lhind the Spy by Sherwood Smith
49. Murder at Mullings by Dorothy Cannell
50. The Confession by Charles Todd
51. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd
52. Goodbye, Ms. Chips by Dorothy Cannell
53. The Mourning Bells by Christine Trent

OCTOBER
Helen Dunmore (BAC):
David Mitchell: The Bone Clocks **** cheated and read it in December of 2014
54. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
55. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
56. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley
57. A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear
58. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

NOVEMBER
Muriel Spark (BAC):
William Boyd (BAC)::
59. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
60. The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield
61. The Unquiet Bones by Mel Starr

DECEMBER
Hilary Mantel - -oh please please please let the third Cromwell book be out by December 1st!
P.G. Wodehouse
62. Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence
63. The Liar's Key by Mark Lawrence
64. Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler.
65.

Journals & Periodicals
1. Slightly Foxed quarterly #45, Spring 2015
2. Slightly Foxed Quarterly #46, Summer 2015

I really need to do better with the British Authors' Challenge. I couldn't decide on which Evelyn Waugh to read, have never read anything by Angela Carter, and can't find any of my Somerset Maughams.

Happy New Thread, Tui! That's very interesting reading you have lined up. Good luck with it!

Lovely new thread, Tui!

Happy New Thread!!

I'm bogging down on the challenges in April...not sure why, because I am reading, just not the books I've picked for the BAC and the AAC. I've had Of Human Bondage on my nightstand since January, but I don't think I'm going to pick it up any time soon.

Happy New Thread, Tui.

Nice new thread, Tui! How old is that first reader?

Hi Peggy, Roni, Amber, Linda, Barbara and Darryl. It's dated 1880, Darryl.

>11 tiffin: Thanks, Tui. It looks to be in excellent condition.

I still have my 5x great grandfather's dictionary from 1796. We're a book hoarding kind of family.

I'm reading the British and American challenge authors very selectively. Rather than trying to read each month's authors, I am reading only those where I already have one of their books on my TBR, or if I'm genuinely interested in them for some other reason.

So I guess that means I'm not really doing the challenge. But I'm ok with that!!

That sounds like a healthy and sane approach, Laura. Think I'll adopt it.

That does sound very sensible. Because I'm not doing so well of late with the one challenge I have (self) imposed (read all Iris Murdoch) - no other challenges are even under consideration! I have yet to read any this year!

Happy New Thread!

I'm glad you were able to decipher my post despite the typo! Fixed now. I think in reality I am treating the author challenges more like a series of group reads than challenges.

As to challenges, just finishing one book - any book - is feeling like a challenge to me right now. *sigh*

Hi Tui, I wish you a wonderful weekend.

I am hooked by the Carlton quotes in yr. last thread!

Just a note to say that I haven't fallen off the earth but have dived right into it: it's gardening season. The cooler weather has given me a break with getting at it and huge strides have been made. I have spread 2 yards of cedar mulch; weeded and pruned and top dressed my lavender; planted the herbs and deck planters; and am starting to tackle the remaining flower borders, including planting roses to replace the ones killed by our harsh winter last year.

I fully intend to have some serious heavy duty reading in the dog days of summer but for now, I'm in gardening mode.

ETA: actually more than 2 yards of mulch as I ran short and had to go buy some bags to finish a border. For the record, the shot with the blue wheel barrow looks like my pile: https://www.google.ca/search?q=2+yards+of+mulch&tbm=isch&tbo=u&sourc...

It does seem as though there is considerable variation in two yards of mulch!

22. Marrying Out by Harold Carlton



Slightly Foxed Edition #27

First published at "The Handsomest Sons in the World!, this reissue by Slightly Foxed Editions in a wonderful memoir by Harold Carlton, who appears as Howard Conway in the book. The family lives in Willesden in north-west London and is ruled over by the terrible character of Grandma, a whisky drinking tyrant who paints her face a chalky white, her lips a vivid slash of scarlet, dyes her hair bright orange, wears her biggest rubies when she wants to do battle, and is the drama queen of all drama queens. Her weekly teas in their Edgware Road flat where she cooks up a storm and people are expected to eat until they are bursting, her sitting at the kitchen table in her nightgown drinking whisky when her ungrateful sons reduce her to abject misery, her screamed instructions across a busy London street for young Howard to keep 'is bowels open, well, it's the stuff of opera on a grand scale in young Howard's life.

His own family consists of a terrifying father who bellows and roars, whom both he and his sister hate; a pretty mother who makes life bearable for both children, and his sister, Rachel, his ally. One of the brighter lights in his life is Grandpa, who returns Howard's love, calling him darling. Grandma favours her sons and dismisses Howard's mother but Grandpa favours his beautiful daughter (no spoilers but the explanation for this does come out near the end). And Grandpa, as we learn, has his own secrets. Howard becomes Grandpa's confidante, keeping many of those secrets, a go-between in sometimes critical situations.

What a family, what a life! Noise, gossip, explosions of histrionics from Grandma, all tossed up with the post-war life of London in the 1950s, "Marrying Out" is both a funny and strangely sad story of roughly four years of young Howard's life. His acute observations - supported by his reading of "The Collected Works of Sigmund Freud" - strip away the facade the family (Grandma in particular) would like to show the world, to reveal the strength of some characters and the weakness of others. There is a wonderful supporting cast in the book as well, especially "Aunt" Hilda and Grandma's Irish maid, Mary.

This is tragicomedy at its finest, although I found the comedic aspects didn't make me laugh as much as squirm, perfectly balanced as they were with the tragic aspects (the wedding, for example). It's a wonderful little book, perfectly written.

Hi, Tui. I won't be reading Marrying Out as I see that a used copy sells for $40 at AMP. Looks good though.

Ouch, Peggy! I get mine directly through Slightly Foxed because I have a subscription for the journals with them. They are £19, which converts to about $31 Canadian, nearly $30 USD. I don't buy every edition but pick and choose carefully as they are a treat. Once Himself retires, that treat will end, I think. I love these kinds of memoirs and as the Slightly Foxed editors seem to have a very good nose for the very best, I have not been disappointed.

>24 tiffin: I pulled this out to read before Christmas, but after a couple of pages felt I was in the wrong mood, and put it back on the shelf for now. Love your review. It may come off the shelf again shortly Tui.

I've almost caught up with all my Slightly Foxed mags, half a dozen more essays in no 39, so will be glad when the new one flops on the mat this week. Normally I read them straight off, but I didn't for a couple of years, and have been catching up.

Hi Tui, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Barbara, that is beautiful, thank you! It could be just north of here.

Tui, that's White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. I don't know if you life close to it.

I live northwest of it, Barbara, maybe 9-10 hours of solid driving. I drove through the White Mountain forest two years ago, however! It's beautiful.

It does look very like New Hampshire!

Hi tui, I wish you a relaxed weekend.

Barbara, I wouldn't have any posts here if it weren't for you! Thank you, it's lovely. It's pouring rain here so no gardening for me today but I would sure like to be sitting there.

Maybe you were staying dry and reading instead????
Hi, Tui!

Hi, Tui. Rainy weather IS good reading weather.

Hi Tui, I wish you a fabulous weekend.

Thank you, Barbara. Another one of your lovely photos to brighten my morning. I hope to be weeding and putting more mulch down this weekend. One sunny day only and the rains come back. We're saturated here! I hope to get reading again by July. I'm just too tired at night to focus these days.

>36 ronincats:: Hi Roni: it's even better weeding weather because they come out far more easily!

Hi, Tui. Agreed, the weeds are just coming out so easily that it makes my complaining about the weather in poor taste. But there needs to be a silver lining somewhere.

Now how pathetic is that: I had to search through *starred* posts to find my own thread here! Storms are brewing: the winds are starting to pick up, there are thunder clouds forming. So I'd better add the Slightly Foxed Spring 2015 quarterly before I have to shut the computer off. It's dangerous for power surges to leave it running when you live in the country. I used to have one of those high end surge protectors but when the battery in it died, I learned that it couldn't be replaced but would have to be replaced entirely. How wasteful! So I'm hoping the surge protector on the power cord will be enough.

>40 tiffin: Pssst. Threadbook!

Oh Jim. I never remember that thingummy. Thanks.

Hi Tui, I wish you a lovely weekend.

Now there's a room with a view, Barbara! How lovely.

I am gardening like a fiend, trying to get ahead of the weeds before the blistering days of July set in. Once they arrive, I'll read again, although I have been poking in and out of books. I'm so tired at night that I can't focus long enough to read more than three sentences without bonking.

And the Tour de France is starting. I can't miss the Tour at night.

During last Saturday's LT meet up in Utrecht we learned that this year's Tour de France would begin there, as there were several people handing out brochures about the event, along with signs and structures highlighting the upcoming event. One of them, a stylized red bicycle, appears in the background of one of the photos I took, next to the iittala store on the bridge over the Oudegracht (Old Canal):



You can see it more easily in this photo from the Internet:

Thanks for this, Darryl! And I love my Ittala striped bowls, so I would have had to nip in to that shop for a look.

You're welcome, Tui. I looked at the route, and although I can't claim to know Utrecht well it does look as though the riders would have crossed the Oudegracht near the point in those photos and ended up near Utrecht Centraal Station. I didn't see any landmarks in the YouTube videos of the race I looked at this morning, particularly the Dom Tower that is prominent in those two photos in >45 kidzdoc:.

Hi Tui - hope the gardening is going well and it isn't too hot! I had to find my thread through my "Posts you've started" - it has been dead since April and Barbara's lovely pictures were keeping it alive till then! Enjoy the Tour de France.

Perfect time for a rest from gardening, innit? As we get our first real heat!

Yup, it's rolling in here too, Lucy. I admit it, I need a day off. I'm hirpling this morning. But I'm so close to getting the borders finished off this year, something I seldom achieve. More rain on the weekend which makes it a lot easier. Wood sorrel and hare bells, the bane of my existence!

23, 24, 25: Liveship Traders Trilogy: Ship of Magic, Mad Ship, Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb

I had these three hanging around forever gathering dust. Read them in a desultory fashion and gave them to one of my lads. It felt like a rerun because I'd read later books of hers around the same theme, so they weren't grabbing me.

26: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson.



Kindle edition

I can't speak to the accuracy of the science or scientific formulae in this book but I can say that the story held my interest right to the end, which is something these days.

Ship has carried a colony of settlers out to the Tau Ceti system from earth, a voyage
encompassing many generations of deaths and births. We join the journey as it nears
its end, with Ship (a basic AI) getting tired and wearing out near the end of a trip which
has taken nearly two centuries. The people on board have only ever known life within
her walls but they know their whole purpose is to settle somewhere in Tau Ceti.

Ship's engineer, Davi, has a deep relationship with this AI, guiding her to write a journal
or narrative of this epic journey, a process which will teach Ship over time to make
connections of thoughts and concepts which she had not made before. At first Ship
has no idea how to do this and Davi isn't much help beyond urging her to continue
when Ship questions what it is she is supposed to do. So at first the record of the
journey to Tau Ceti is very factual and straightforward. This happened. That
happened.

But when the attempted settlement of the planet Aurora in the Tau Ceti system is
unsuccessful, with results so catastrophic that Ship has to intervene, Ship's narrative
voice changes. She has assessed and acted in an unprecedented manner, so a new
understanding now enters her voice. The inhabitants split into two factions at this point:
those who have decided to stay to try to settle another location in the system and those
who have decided to stay with Ship to make the journey back to earth.

Davi's daughter Freya is an unusually tall young woman in a population which has
become increasingly smaller (including the animals) as the years have gone on, so she
is a physical anomaly as well as a mental one: she doesn’t seem to get things which
others seem to understand (like advanced physics, for example). With Davi’s death,
Freya comes into her own as the person most connected to Ship. Their growth of
intellect and understanding seems to run a parallel course. Indeed, Freya comes to be
as much of a force for cohesion in Ship as her mother was. Freya and her father
(whose name has gone right out of my head) decide to stay with Ship, making the
return voyage.

*SPOILERS Of course the return journey to earth is fraught with peril. Ship was never intended to
make this gruelling journey twice. But with ingenuity and what seems to be an almost
human courage, Ship returns the remaining inhabitants to our solar system. The re-
entry is perilous, requiring much to-ing and fro-ing around planets to get the remaining
settlers close enough to earth to allow their shuttle to get into earth’s orbit and return to
the planet.

It isn’t all happy dancing in the streets at the end. A lot of earth’s occupants don’t want
them back. Ship herself has to park herself just off of Saturn for her remaining days, if
she can make the final fling past the sun. And a lot of the settlers don’t make the wild
re-entry.

But Freya and her father do. The latter is delighted with the wonder of it
all but Freya is in shock. The loss of Ship around her, the intimacy of their contact, is
ripped away from her when the old failing Ship can’t make that final boomerang around
the sun. It is a loss as powerful as a death for Freya, as indeed it is.

And earth is just too huge after the finite spaces of Ship. Freya’s mind can’t
encompass it and she suffers from the most acute agoraphobia. It isn’t until she
experiences the ocean that she is able to loosen her grief and fear. It’s a cute touch
that KSR returns his characters to the source of all our life, Mother Ocean.

There are lots of wobbly bits in the telling of this tale but I do like KSR’s imagination and
I especially like the issues he chews on. In this one I think he is letting us know that he
thinks we are biological entities tied to this little blue watery ball in the universe and that
we had better just stay put - and take better care of it.

So the big question is: can I read 50 books between now and the end of the year? Not at this rate! But the garden is looking not bad at all.

>53 tiffin: The books we have always with us....the garden is a sometime thing!

>52 tiffin: At least you have a garden to enjoy! (And I can't wait, btw, to get to Aurora!) I'm not reading as much as I used to, and I don't have a thing to show for it.......... Well, I played a little program accompanying a boy violinist last week, but that's done, and I can't wait for that music to get out of my head. I know I accomplished it, but I can't see, smell, touch it.

27. The Blood Curse by Emily Gee



Kindle edition

The third and final instalment of The Cursed Kingdoms trilogy. A satisfying ending to a good story. Emily Gee is the daughter of Maurice Gee, also an author, and is holding her own quite nicely.

28. The Laurentine Spy by Emily Gee



Kindle edition.

An earlier fantasy of Emily Gee's. Well written, with a romance at its core, the requisite baddies and a good amount of danger. An easy read but fun.

29. No Time Like the Past by Jodi Taylor



Kindle edition.

The latest St. Mary's tale involving the great fire of London, sometime in the 1700s, and Thermopylae, not to mention things going wrong (of course), romance (of course), awful baddies (of course) and a very satisfying ending. It's all held together by endless pots of tea, chocolate biscuits, and alcohol. If the series is to end, this would be a good place to end it. If not, it leaves things available to visit the wonderful St. Mary's again.

A fast and fun read, as always.

30. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee



Library edition

Review link below

Oh my, I read your thread and caught up yesterday and then posted nothing. I'm glad your gardening is paying off! The heat wave certainly seems to be over!

31. What Darkness Brings by C.S. Harris



Kindle edition.

A Sebastian St. Cyr mystery I somehow overlooked when I read the series last year. The crown jewels go missing during the French Revolution and somehow the biggest of them all ends up in England. I like this series.

>61 tiffin: you have finally convinced me to add the Sebastian St. Cyr mysteries to my wishlist.

They are light and fun, Colleen. Perfect escapist reading.

I got my review of Go Set a Watchman done: My Review of Go Set a Watchman

Thumbed.

Why thankee, ma'am!

Excellent review of GSAW, Tui. I have duly applied my thumb as well.

Thanks, Laura!

Great review of GSAW, Tui.

Thanks, Colleen! I appreciate that.

32. Thief With No Shadow by Emily Gee



Kindle edition

Another fantasy by Emily Gee. I think this must be one of her earlier ones. Parts of it were a bit, er, rich but she's a good story teller.

Another thumb for *Watchman* review and more courage for me to tackle it sometime. Thanks, Tui.

Your review of GSAW is currently #1 on the "hot" list. Way to go Tui!

Thanks, Peggy. It is an unpolished book in many ways and I can understand why Harper Lee didn't want it published. It is interesting too in that it was written before TKaMB but the action is years later. Maybe it planted the seeds for TKaMB for her. It would be interesting to hear what you think of it when you do read it, as someone who lives in the South.

I saw that, Laura, thank you! It was there with only 2 thumbs so I think things are pretty slow around LT this early August.

Great reviews of Go Set a Watchman, Tui and Laura! Thumbs to you both.

Thanks, Darryl!

33. Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet



Kindle edition

Oh boy oh boy oh boy: a wonderful new set of cosy mysteries to read! Maxen "Max" Tudor is a former MI5 agent who has become an Anglican priest in the sleepy little village of Nether Monkslip in the Southwest of England. The village is a haven for artistic types, in addition to the regular locals whose families have lived their for centuries. When Wanda Batton-Smythe is murdered on the day of what she thought of as HER Harvest Fayre, Max must call on his former MI5 training to help Inspector Cotton solve the crime.

I just love villages like this with their characters, old stone buildings, gossip, and beautiful scenery. Apparently there are four more in this set to read as well. Malliet's writing is full of humour, wonderful descriptions of the village's denizens, and, of course, "more tea, Vicar?" and plates of baking.

34. A Fatal Winter by G.M. Malliet



Kindle edition

The second in the Father Max Tudor series. This one is set in the castle on the edge of the sea near Nether Monkslip. Leticia, Lady Baynard, and Oscar, Lord Footrustle, twin brother and sister, have both been found dead. Oscar was helped on his way to meet his Maker whereas Leticia appears to have died of natural causes. The whole oddball family had been summoned to the castle by the late Lord Footrustle, so Max and Inspector Cotton have their hands full with the requisite cast of suspects. Things are heating up in the romance department for Max, as well.

Lots of fun!

Nether Monkslip! Lord Footrustle! Worth reading these just for the names.

Linda, the names are great fun. You just know she has her tongue firmly in her cheek with them. FYI, this is a series best read in order as there is a definite progression underway.

I just went on a real binge of adding books because I realised that I seldom remember to add my Kindle books, nor was my public library tag up to date. Heading back into 2014 to catch up with the Kindles, after swimming.

I often forget to add library books to my catalog too. Then I know I read something, go looking for it in my catalog and get addled when it isn't there. If I do an honest-to-goodness review and want to post it, of course, I have to enter it, but I don't always do that either.

I'm a little more ... Um ... What's the word I'm looking for? ... prompt about adding books to my catalog ...

Now there's a surprise :-)

hehehehe Laura & Caro

>82 lauralkeet: HA!

I'm usually pretty good about adding books, but since Chris and I share a family account for kindle, sometimes a book will show up that I had no idea we had.

And that Maillet series looks like fun. :)

I'm pretty hit and miss about it, Colleen. I am enjoying these mysteries. A slight pause before garden clean-up season begins.

35. Pagan Spring by G.M. Malliet



Kindle edition

I'm pretty impressed with the way Ms. Malliet keeps coming up with a plot which is fresh. The characters overlap a bit but the stories don't. And things are getting quite interesting for Father Tudor.

Well I caved in and ordered Wicked Autumn.

It's easy reading, Caro. I'm going to break down and get the next one, I think. It's a bit more $ than the first three.

I ordered book for a penny and postage on the marketplace, as kindle cost the same as a new copy.

>58 tiffin: There's a new St Mary's book due out on 28th August - What could possibly go wrong?

36. A Demon Summer by G.M. Malliet



Kindle edition

Set in an isolated nunnery this time, Father Tudor once again is tossed into the fray by his Bishop. A murder, of course, but a story of karma and chickens coming home to roost, as well as the usual factors of greed, revenge, and love.

It has been lovely having this heat wave trapping me indoors - gardening is impossible right now - with time to read.

And that's it for the Father Tudor series because the next one isn't out yet. I always want to live in these English villages while I'm reading things like this. I guess I kind of do when I get immersed in a series like this. But Peggy steered me in the direction of a fun new series starting with Inda by Sherwood Smith. So I'm off on another rampage.

>92 CDVicarage:: Thanks, Kerry! They are always saying "what could possibly go wrong" before every time leap.

Speaking of living in an English village, as you all know I am a great fan of the Mapp & Lucia series. One of the most wonderful three days of my life was staying in Rye, England aka Tilling, walking the streets E.F. Benson and his characters had walked. Literature met reality without one whit of disappointment.

>94 tiffin: 'Speaking of living in an English village, as you all know I am a great fan of the Mapp & Lucia series. One of the most wonderful three days of my life was staying in Rye, England aka Tilling, walking the streets E.F. Benson and his characters had walked. Literature met reality without one whit of disappointment."

Now that sounds just lovely, Tui.

>94 tiffin: concurring with Tui. It is a lovely place (though short of one of its s/h bookshops now I think). I loved visiting the house once owned by Henry James and EF Benson. And lots of civilised afternoon tea rooms.

*sigh* I wish I had memories of Rye, but I appreciate hearing yours!
I'm tickled to see that you like Inda, Tui, and I hope it keeps pleasing. She has a knack of introducing new (or returning to old) fascinating plot threads just when I am about to have enough military matters. You do make Father Tudor sound interesting. I'll keep my eyes peeled for him. (O.K. That looks weird. Is it right?)

I'm already on the second book, Peggy, The Fox. Humid, thunderstorm weather here, perfect for reading.

The Father Tudor books are very light, very cosy, but not of overwhelmingly great depth, just so you are forewarned.

37. Inda by Sherwood Smith



Kindle edition

The first book of a series by Sherwood Smith.

Too tired to write much tonight. Perhaps tomorrow.

Happy Weekend, Tui.

Thanks, Barbara. That looks like a lovely spot to sit and read.

38: The Fox by Sherwood Smith



Kindle edition

The second book in the Inda series. Just whipping right through these but my eyes are paying for it! I do love a good rip snorting story.

You're going to overtake and pass me, Tui. I'll just let you know that I'm mixing Maggie Gee and Margaret Maron with The King's Shield, which means that I don't make a lot of progress in any of them. Anyway, *Inda 3* is as good as 1 and 2.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through the last book, Peggy. Whew, I really went on a binge there!

39. King's Shield by Sherwood Smith



Kindle edition

The third book in the Inda series. I think I'll do an overview of the whole story once I read the last book.

40. Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith



Kindle edition

Nearly finished!

>105 tiffin: Looking forward to your thoughts on these. I've eyed them a few times but have never picked them up.

I was right. You've passed me. I've sort of put #3 aside to try to read a couple of short mysteries. Inda & Co. are not going stale on me though.... And I also look forward to your thoughts on these.

Laura, nowhere near The Master but still a rollicking good story, well told.

I get a little manic about these series at times, Peggy. I'm gathering my thoughts together and hope to post them tomorrow.

I can't wait!

The Inda series by Sherwood Smith:

Sherwood Smith has written an epic which owes much to the saga or edda of Norse
myth and legend, and to Norse history. A people named the Venn live in the cold north
of this world, huddled around harbours with little arable land. In their past, they had
mysteriously sailed out of another world while they were going a-viking to find better
land in their old one. Although their cities are full of magic and beauty, with vast
underground tunnels to live away from the cold, and although their culture has much of
art and music about it, they are a fierce people who are desperate to expand their land
holdings.

But I get ahead of myself for this is not where the story starts. It begins with a boy, Inda
Algara-Vayir, being sent to train and learn at the Academy where all the sons of the
titled landowners go to learn the military skills which their fathers and their fathers
fathers had learned before them. It is a world of class distinctions, hierarchies,
weapons and training, all of which is in preparation for the always expected attack from
the Venn. Inda’s family and those of the friends with whom he bonds at the Academy
live in the Southern lands with its rich plains, good harbours, fertile farm lands, and
robust trade.

Inda’s world uses simple magic involving light globes and water heating, cleansing
buckets for washing, and a few healers, but magic is fading in the South and their enemies,
the Venn, aren’t interested in restoring it with their Dags, their magicians. Nor are those
mysterious people, the Morvende, interested in helping as they fear the use of magic
being turned to war by Southerners.

It is also a world full of pirates ripping up the seas, creating havoc with everyone’s trade
routes. And somewhere over-arcing everything is the terrifying world of the Norsunder
with magic so powerful that it can alter time, featuring characters like Yeres and Captain
Ramis of the three-masted square-sailed drakan ship “Knife”.

Smith keeps a tight grip on her sprawling tale, for the most part, which spans Inda’s life
from childhood to middle age. I cared about the characters she has created,
sometimes deeply, enjoying some of them immensely and hating a handful of them
quite thoroughly. It is a swashbuckling story full of action but it is also a story about
honour, loyalty, courage, compassion, the simple pleasures of home and family. It is a
tale of choices, of greed and generosity, of magic being used for good and for evil. Sex
and sexuality play their part but without the sharp categorisations of our world. People
are attracted to whomever they are attracted to without much concern about gender.
There are those who prefer the opposite gender, there are those who prefer the same
gender, there are those who have no preference, and none of that sort of thing matters.

The one thing I did wonder about was an aspect of Inda which she only mentioned
without seeking to explain it, a kind of simplicity about him along with his constant
tapping and touching of things. Was she hinting at something along the lines of him
having a form of autism or a learning disability of some sort? Whatever her intent, she
was successful at conveying the idea of a man who was always in the right place at the
right time, whose talent was to see the right patterns of what to do and who could
convince others of the rightness of these things.

I felt a bit sad and somewhat lost when it was all over because I had lived the life of an
entire world and its people over a span of years in these books, you know, the way it
can happen when you immerse yourself in a series. Owlishly blinking with strained
eyesight, it felt like an adjustment to return to my own world. Oh how I do love to be
told a good rollicking story full of adventure and action, but with all our human emotions thrown
into the mix as well.

Well done, Sherwood Smith.

>111 tiffin: This saga sounds really good... I don't know if my TBR can take it. :)

Hi Colleen, thanks for dropping by. I didn't want to give a précis of the plot at all in the four books because it's one of those stories where the twists and turns of the plot are what make it so worthwhile, so I probably didn't give it its due but it really was a lot of fun to read. I like the world Smith created.

EXTREMELY WELL DONE, TUI!!!
Thanks for taking the time to write this up right. If you haven't put this on the book pages, you need to.... I just don't know which one.
I'll likely get back to it next week.

Thank you, Peggy! Wow, italics AND bold font. I feel humbled.

Happy Sunday, Tui.

Bicycles and flowers: perfect! Thank you, Barbara.

41. The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks



Kindle edition

The third book in the Lightbringer series. I thought it was going to wrap things up but oh no, on it goes. He left us hanging so long after book two that I forgot almost everything that was going on until I got a couple of chapters in. So I expect book four will be the same, whenever it comes out. Pah.

Well Tui, you've done some damage to my WL with the Inda series, but it is time to start developing the Christmas List. That's my excuse anyway!

42. Lhind the Thief by Sherwood Smith



Kindle edition

I wanted to check out some other things Sherwood Smith has written. This wasn't bad but not as good as the Inda series.

43. A Posse of Princesses by Sherwood Smith



Kindle edition

It's a good thing this wasn't the first thing by Sherwood Smith that I read or I wouldn't have likely read any more. An adolescent level romance slash adventure story.

44. The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks



Kindle edition

Weeks writes a good story. Book one of yet another series.

45. Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks



Kindle edition

Book two.

46. Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks



Kindle edition

This was quite a sprawling tale, so if I can gather some words together about it, I will but for now, it was a really good read. I think I enjoyed it more than the Sherwood SMith series.

I keep trying to read Midnight's Children but keep haring off into tales full of magic, swords, heroes and villains. Maybe if I read another mystery, it will break the spell(s). Picked up H is for Hawk at the library too.

More enjoyable than S. Smith??? (I'm closing in on the end of *Inda 3*) Oh dear. Oh dear. I'd better get to B. Weeks. I know that Heather swears by him - and now you.....
O.K. I practically worship Rushdie for *M's C*. Yet another favorite writer that I'd love to be reading now.

Hi Peggy. Weeks has a very different style from Smith, so I guess it would depend on your taste. They both create characters about whom we can care a lot, they both have lots of action packed pages, but I think I like the actual story Weeks told just a smidge better than Smith's.

I have discovered a new-to-me mystery author: Dorothy Cannell. I'm currently reading her second Florence Norris mystery but apparently she has a whole series featuring someone named Ellie Haskell. Very character driven, set in a small village called Dovecote Hatch. Anyone else know of her?

>111 tiffin: So late coming back to this party, but thanks for your review of the Inda series. It is now firmly on my wishlist/TBR!

47: Death at Dovecote Hatch by Dorothy Cannell



Library copy

A quite satisfying cosy mystery set in the little English village of Dovecote Hatch in 1932. A cup of tea & McVities Rich Tea read.

I thought Dorothy Cannell's name looked familiar, but I guess not. I just went and checked her title list...don't recognize any of them, although some of them made me do a double take---Goodbye, Ms. Chips; Withering Heights; Bridesmaids Revisited. I may have to check those out!

Better than Inda eh? I've got that on my list, and now must add another!

>130 sibylline:: different than Inda, Lucy. A bit more noir at times, with a more intriguing magical framework, at least for me.

48. Lhind the Spy by Sherwood Smith



Kindle edition

The second book in what looks to be an ongoing series (third not released yet). Very interesting world she has created, which I enjoyed greatly. I must have: I spent most of the day reading!

Happy weekend, Tui.

Thank you, Barbara. You too.

49. Murder at Mullings by Dorothy Cannell



Library copy

I wanted to see what the first book was all about, having read the second. It doesn't move as quickly as the second one did, but Cannell's characters are interesting (although not quite fascinating, if you know what I mean). Florence Norris is a Mrs. Hughes of Downton fame type housekeeper: discreet, reliable, loyal, and observant. Set in the era before WWII, Mrs. Norris is, like many English women, a widow as a result of WWI. This leaves her free to start a fragile romance with the local publican, George Bird. However, the death which was really a murder at Mullings puts all of that on hold for most of the book. Three stars at most.

>126 tiffin: I read the Ellie Haskel mysteries when they came out - or at least, I kept up with the series for several books. I remember them as being funny fluff. I'm not so sure how I'd like them now, but I'm glad that your expedition into her little village was pretty good.
A new S. Smith series that you like? Oh boy! I have a copy of the first of 2 B. Weeks's series (*Shadows* and something else), so it will be a long time before I'm there.

Hi Peggy. Yes, I think they might be funny fluff. I have a couple here from the library to give them a look-see. About the Sherwood Smith Lhind series: sometimes I suspect her _target audience is really 15 year old girls, rather than retired seniors. Things border on the angstish at times in a way I associate with early teen years. Howevah, always willing to explore.

50. The Confession by Charles Todd



Library copy

Inspector Ian Rutledge is out in the marshes east of London this time, close to Colchester. A man has confessed to a murder and then is himself murdered, leading Rutledge and his ghost, Hamish, through a tangled maze until all is resolved. Thankfully Hamish isn't as vocal in this one as he was in the earlier books. His Scottish accent set my teeth on edge as it bordered on the overdone and ham-fisted. Hopefully, as the series continues, he will dwindle more and more into the background until one day he'll just fade away and Rutledge will find redemption.

Thank you for reminding me about this series, Tui, I should get back to Inspector Rutledge. I enjoyed the two I read.

Hi Colleen! Yes, I like the Rutledge series too. I am not bowled over, however, by the Ellie Haskell book I started last night. It lacks a certain energy - maybe just a bit too cosy (or twee)?

Happy Sunday, Tui.

51. A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd



Kindle version.

Well I feel dopey. I was half way into this when it started to come back to me. This was an inadvertent reread. It was good second time through, though. *shaking head at obviously aging self* I got a new version of the Paperwhite and this one was marked as unread when I brought it through from the Cloud.

Do you like the Bess Crawford series as well as the Ian Rutledge series, Tui? (I think I remember you've read some of the Rutledge). I haven't tried Bess yet, and some people think those are not as good.

I really like the Ian Rutledge series, but the Bess Crawford seems a little too unbelievable. This coming from a fan of Dr. Siri Paiboun who channels dead people. :)

>144 NanaCC: Well, Rutledge does that as well...sort of...involuntarily I guess you would say!

Bess is in the middle of the war while Rutledge is post-war, so they are dealing with different things. In the early Rutledge books, I found that Hamish's accent grated. There is a way to write a Scottish accent that makes it acceptable to the ear used to hearing Scottish accents, if that makes any sense, and they weren't quite nailing it - plus he intruded so often in the earlier books. That intrusion has levelled out in the later books and it is my fond hope that Hamish will disappear altogether. The Rutledge books have that whiff of crime procedural about them while the Bess books concern themselves with a different approach. She might seem too independent for the era but having listened to a friend's English mom and aunts talk about what they did during the war (they were Londoners who lived through the Blitz), her independence isn't all that far fetched. I enjoy them both for different reasons.

*waves cast--ONE MORE DAY!*

You'll probably have one heckuva good scratch fest, Roni.

52. Goodbye, Ms. Chips by Dorothy Cannell



Library edition

Didn't grab me. A bit twee rather than cosy.

53. The Mourning Bells by Christine Trent



Library edition

Another one that didn't capture my interest. One of the "Lady of Ashes" mysteries series about a female undertaker in Victorian London. I was probably just in the wrong mood for this one.

54. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith



Library edition

Well I'm a fan of Cormoran Strike now. Maybe it was her experience with keeping track of all those horcruxes in Harry Potter but J.K. Rowling aka Robert Galbraith didn't drop a single ball here. I'd be thinking "wait, go back and pick up the *whatever*" and she'd have him pick it up at the last moment. Tiny details like that. A good mystery in the down-and-out gumshoe tradition with the smart secretary: an excellent series in the making.

>151 tiffin: Oh, I liked that one a lot. And the follow-up. Just checked and the third one will be published on October 20th!

>152 laytonwoman3rd:. I already have a hold at the library for the third. She can really write great characters. I think I read that she plans 7. Isn't that what Harry Potter was? Maybe that's her formula.

>153 NanaCC: I hadn't thought of putting a hold on a book not out yet...I'm going to see if my library will let me do that! I think more authors should self-limit their series, before they run out of decent ideas and start stretching their characters' believability. Write six or seven and then come up with a new idea...very wise.

EDIT: Checked....the third one (Career of Evil) doesn't show up on my library's website at all yet. So. Will just have to remember.

I just reserved the second one (something with Silkworm in the title) at the village library. And whooo hooo about a 3rd one pending!

The second one's just called The Silkworm...she's on a roll.

I was able to request Career of Evil from my library some time ago. I'm not sure how they decide when to put new books up on their site, but I only recently figured out they often do so before the release date. By the time I looked for this one, I was #43 or something like that. But it looks like they will have at least 20 copies so my name should come up relatively quickly.

Hi Tui!

I haven't read JK Rowling's latest series and had forgotten about it - will look in the library. And the Father Tudor mysteries also look good but I have been buying so much this year and reading so little, so I will just shut my eyes.

Moving right along on the reading, aren't you!! *waves*

>156 laytonwoman3rd: & >157 lauralkeet:: heading into the village to pick up the 2nd book this afternoon.

>158 cushlareads:: Hi Cush. I'm using the library more these days to train myself as Himself heads for retirement. I need to learn not to hit that *send* button.

>159 ronincats:: I hope you are waving with both arms at this point, Roni.

Made a mad dash to the village library and am already about 20 pages in to the 2nd Cormoran Strike book!

By the way, Cormoran is the giant who is supposed to have created St. Michael's Mount off the Cornish coast. He raided the mainland for cattle, crossing at ebb tide. He was killed by a local lad named Jack, who dug a pit into which Cormoran fell. We saw what was purported to be the giant's cave and the rocks which supposedly covered his grave. Local folklore has it that you can hear him moaning down there but I bet it is the wind coming up a shaft or the waves far below echoing up through an opening. There are enormous rocks which are tilted and leaning at crazy angles on the path on the way up to the mount castle. Supposedly Cormoran and some other giant liked to hurl rocks at each other.

Love the Cormoran origin story! Also glad you are enjoying the series.

>161 tiffin: And of course Rowling would pull from Cornish legend...

St. Michael's Mount has one of the loveliest libraries: it is at the top of the edifice facing out to the Channel. There was one deeply set window, a fireplace with welcoming chairs beside it, a rug to warm the stone floor, and floor to ceiling books. Old books. I would have loved to have hopped the rope to check out the titles. Apparently they used to have it open but books started disappearing so they are more careful now. I loved the library and the gardens.

55. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith



Library edition

Oh my, I am enjoying Cormoran Strike and his sidekick Robin. After all, a detective who can quote Catullus doesn't come along every day, does he? I love the little literary snippets Rowling puts at the start of every chapter. I like the characters she creates (she's a genius at characterisation, in me 'umble opinion). I like the pubs, Cormoran's draughty flat, the streets of London, the weather, his sister Lucy's beige life in the suburbs, all of it.

Apparently the third book in the series is due out at the end of October. Will Matthew still be around? Are Robin and Strike inching toward something beyond boss and employee? But most importantly, will the village library get the book on the "new books" shelf in a timely manner? Don't touch that dial!

>165 tiffin: But most importantly, will the village library get the book on the "new books" shelf in a timely manner?
LOL -- that's definitely the most important question!

>166 lauralkeet: Ditto! I'm stopping by mine today, and I intend to ask!

>165 tiffin: Indeed! Hoping for timely too. I have found that the problem with reading a Rowling book (it happens with other favorite series too) is waiting for the next issue.

>168 NanaCC: With all this excitement you'd think there would be a book release party where we can turn up at midnight dressed as our favorite character ... like with the HP books but for grownups. :)

Hold that thought, Laura, said the senior who likes to be in her own dear bed most midnights.

>170 tiffin: LOL Tui, I'm in bed by 10pm, lights out by 10:30! I only went to a midnight HP thing once with my daughters and some friends. This was before they could drive and they needed a chaperone although I confess I got caught up in the spirit of it once I was there. I've never been to a midnight film screening though. I'm sure I'd fall asleep and then I would have wasted the ticket money. :)

I am dragging out The Silkworm, but doggone it, that's not working very well. Love the books too for the characters, and I also wondered whether JKR was going to remember to deal with this or that detail, and she always did. (I've also started the Weeks, The Way of Shadows. Just what I needed since I haven't read *Inda 4*. Oh well.)

I can't wait for the third one either, but I am hoping I'll have the strength to stow it in the xmas book loot bag! Glad you're loving them!

>151 tiffin: I picked a copy of this up a few months ago Tui, remembering how Laura enjoyed it. Will nudge it up a pile. And the second good too...

Happy weekend, Tui.

>173 sibylline:: No way I'm stowing it, Lucy! Grubby hands on it, reading it.
>174 Caroline_McElwee:: I think you'd like it, Caro. London plays a starring role.
>175 Ameise1:: Perfect photo for a Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, Barbara. Thank you.

56. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley



Library edition

I like Flavia de Luce very much indeed but I prefer her in England, her proper setting. She was misplaced in Toronto, Ontario. I kept trying to figure out where Miss Bodycote's Female Academy is actually located in the story: obviously across the Bloor viaduct, east of the Don Valley, as she crosses to the west side at one point, looking down at the Don River.

In typical Flavia fashion, she isn't in the school for half an hour before a body lands in her room. But the real mystery of the book is who composes the mysterious Nide at her mother's former school, and what exactly is this Nide anyway?

I'll be glad when she is back in England for the next book, which I presume to be coming in the future.

I've listened to the first three in the Flavia de Luce series, and enjoyed them quite a bit. You've reminded me to get the next one.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend.

Yes indeed! I neglected to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving - I trust that it was, and that the weekend has been equally enjoyable.

Thanks Barbara and Peggy. The weather was beautiful, which is always a bit of luck.

1. Blue Jays baseball
2. Election on Monday
3. Onset of cold weather necessitating emergency garden clean-up

Reading to resume soon.

I hope that the result of item #2 is better than item #1 has been so far.

Ahh, baseball. Our house is divided right now. I'm a Mets fan and my hubby, having grown up outside of Chicago, is a Cubs fan. My only thought there is that if someone other than the Mets win the series, I hope it's the Cubbies, given their history.

Well, we have one team based in Canada, so we cheer our hearts out for it up here. They have done so well to get into the post season but the Royals have a wicked bullpen going for them right now.

If our current prime minister gets turfed it will be a glorious day, no matter what happens on the ball field.

How does it feel, Tui....do you think Harper will be ousted? Or don't you even dare get your hopes up?

The polls have him gone but I don't trust polls which have been proven way off base once the counts come in. I'll wait until everything is counted and with luck, will be celebrating.

Keeping fingers crossed for the right outcome Tui.

Thanks, Caro.

A copy of something I posted on FaceBook this morning:

In a lovely metaphor, it's warmer and sunny out there today.

Another metaphor: when the Reform Party thinly disguised as the Conservative Party came to power nine years eight months ago, the lid to a Canadian version of Pandora's box was lifted, and all manner of quite un-Canadian things flew out. But as with the ancient story of Pandora's box, yesterday evening we were grateful to see that hope had not flown away but remained.

It isn't a naive feeling of hope but it is one which yearns toward decency, openness, and respect in how our country functions, in how we treat each other. So even though I know politics can be a dirty game, it feels so very good to feel hopeful again.

57. A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear



Library edition.

I can't say that I enjoyed this one. Death, grief, loss, war, espionage. A faint lifting at the end but very faint.

>190 tiffin: Politics here is so disturbing right now. No compromise, no reaching across the aisle, no respect for the president. When did people become so disrespectful? I am very discouraged. I do hope better minds prevail in the election next year.

>191 tiffin: I read an excerpt of A Dangerous Place that was at the end of my version of the previous book Leaving Everything Most Loved. It didn't have me rushing out to get it.

Happy weekend, Tui.

Just stopping by -- looked at the forecast yesterday -- not so much for cold but for tremendous winds off and on and decided to put away all those plastic chairs and sunbrollies and so on - also the outdoor shower (boo hoo) is dismantled. It's just cane-screening hung on poles with a length of fake ivy (really real looking!) on it. I fill the area with shade plants, coleus, begonia, ivies, and for a month or two it is utterly charming.... am I ready for the next season? Not really.

The lashings of rain have hit here, Lucy. It's 6C. We're under a heavy rainfall warning, with winds. The leaves are being blown off the trees in the millions. I did the last of the blowables yesterday, so all is tucked safe and sound in the garden shed. There is one lone pumpkin out there and if the wind is able to blow it, it is welcome to it with my full respect. I grinned at your realistic fake ivy.

I put the parsley from the herb pot on the deck through the food processor last night and now have an ice cube tray full of parsley cubes. Very handy when making stews and the like. I love doing ant-like things in preparation for winter - although we're supposed to get the mildest winter we've had in 15 years because of El Nino. I prefer a good freeze to kill off all the bugs and moulds.

I love your weather reports. They're so evocative and a contrast to our spring/summer. I look forward to pumpkin-blowing-away reports.

I like the parsley cubes idea. I forget how harsh your winter is - our parsley goes all year round. It does get a bit windy here though...

Thanks to you and Laura I *nearly* bought a Cuckoo Calling today but decided on a non-fiction book about Russia instead. Now I just need to read some of the books I've been buying all year.

58. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith



Library copy

really busy so comments later

>193 Ameise1:: thanks for the deer, Barbara.
>196 cushlareads:: hi Cush, thanks for dropping by. I'm using the library more and more, to avoid buying books, except as gifts. If I run across one that I know I will want to reread, I'll break down and purchase it.

I'm another who has been using the library more and more over the last few years. I'm fortunate to have a large system where I can order online and have the books delivered to my local library.

Parsley cubes. Insanely brilliant!

Thank you, Lucy!

I am just too befuddled by this and that to do a proper review of Career of Evil, so I will just say that I loved it, can't wait for the next book, and go read Laura's review because it says it all.

>201 tiffin: ha! Happy to relieve you of the reviewing burden, Tui. And so glad you enjoyed it as much as I did.

59. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald



Library copy

What a beautiful story. Every aspect of it, from the writing to the story itself. Having lost a beloved father myself, I could connect with the whole process of her grieving, even if I didn't rush out to train a goshawk. This one gets 4.5 stars.

I'm going to straggle this thread along until the end of the year.

>203 tiffin: I knew you'd love that book!

>203 tiffin: H is for Hawk has been on my wishlist for a while. Every time I see a review, I think I should make a point of getting to it.

I have it on my nf shelf, but I think maybe I'm hoarding it. I sort of look at it and have anticipatory gloating.

>206 NanaCC: Ditto.

60. The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield



Academy Chicago Publishers paperback

First published in 1924, this is an interesting story of what happens when people are cast in roles which don't suit them, and for which they are ill equipped. Evangeline and Lester Knapp are striving to carry on in the stereotypical roles for a married couple but each is quietly smothering in his and her own way. Evangeline runs the house in a manner bordering on OCD, to the detriment of their children, while Lester struggles to fit his poetic self into the round hole society has dictated that the man of the family must occupy.

Things happen to alter their roles, to the intense joy and betterment of all concerned. There is a moment of panic when all might appear to be undone but a correction is made and they carry on as they were really meant to, rather than how society would have them do. A very modern book in its thoughts while very much written in its time of the mid-twenties of the 1900s. I finished it almost exhausted from the strain of coping from the strain of an entire family held hostage to ideals which countered every fibre of their beings.

Hi Tui, I finally find time to do some weekend greetings. Wishing you a most lovely weekend.

That one is beautiful, Barbara. All the leaves are off the trees here and they are calling for snow today!

Brrrr. Snow!
O.K. I'm wishing for H is for Hawk if it's not already on the list. Thanks, Tui.

61. The Unquiet Bones by Mel Starr



Kindle edition

An inadvertent reread. It was marked as unread in my "Mysteries" folder on my Kindle so I thought whoo hooo! I got about halfway into it when I realised that I had read it before. However, I couldn't quite remember how it ended, so I finished it. Not bad, even the second time around. Not fantastic, but not bad.

I'm a great fan of Dorothy Canfield Fisher. I must find The Home-Maker which sounds quite autobiographical . . . I can relate because when I moved here to Vermont I went through a huge spell of 'ye-domestic-crafte' disease. I'm glad I learned to do the things I did, but I was so happy to abandon most of them like canning and candle-making to others trying to make a living from it to get on with what I really love--writing and books, music and so on. I think Knox, the spousal unit, somewhat misses that olde moi. He has a big homesteading streak, as do many who choose to live in Vermont (I chose not so much Vermont but him since he was settled and I was not so settled at the time we got together.) I'm a little sad about gardening - turns out music and gardening, for me, don't mix as my hands swell up into mitts unless I am very very careful. No gardening frenzies as we call them around here. And I always have to wear gloves, can't let them get wet either, so I end up changing them when I'm doing anything remotely serious around dirt.

Wishing you a lovely weekend, Tui.

Beautiful! Thank you, Barbara.

62. Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence



Kindle edition

This was fun. It takes place in a western Europe which isn't anything like the western Europe we know. At one time a people known as the Builders had lived there, so there are remnants of builder inventions but this is a society of swords and horses, infused with magic of various kinds, and interfered with by the old Norse gods while some believe in one god and Jesus. So was it a post apocalypse society of some sort or was it just Lawrence's imaginative creation of another kind of world?

The hedonistic main character, Prince Jalan, grandson to the powerful Red Queen, gets swept up in a quest led by Snorri the Viking. Off they go to the frozen wastes of the north to try to find the way into Hel to rescue Snorri's family, murdered by the Undead King.

Lawrence writes well enough, although the book did have spots where it lagged a bit. I was entertained enough to get the second book in the series because he is doing interesting things with character growth. Jalan, a self-proclaimed coward, has more to him than he suspects. His character is growing in spite of himself and what he will become remains to be seen.

63. The Liar's Key by Mark Lawrence



Kind edition

The liar is, of course, Loki. He has made a key which can open any door, even the door to Hel, and of course every baddie in the known world wants it. Even baddies in the unknown world are sending their minions after it, making it a rough go for Jalan and Snorri. Accompanied by Snorri's last remaining clansman, Tuttugu, and the witch in training, Kara, the quest continues to find the door to Hel.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Tui.

How lovely, Barbara!

>120 tiffin: that is a lovely photo.

I don't know where Barbara finds her photos, Caro, but they are always exquisite.

>222 Caroline_McElwee: Caroline, I find them in the BIG village which is called world wide web :-)

I wish you a lovely weekend, Tui.

And you, Barbara. Next weekend is Christmas!

I took three books back to the library this past week because I knew I just wouldn't get around to reading them. I'm in the throes of Christmas present making right now (knitting socks, Christmas gift baking, and a reading pillow for son #1's gf). I have a mystery 2/3 read but that's it until after Christmas, I think. I'll make it to 65 but that might be all. However, I have had a good year as a gardener, and a creative year as a creative person, so I'm not going to count this year as a loss.

>226 tiffin: I have had a good year as a gardener, and a creative year as a creative person, so I'm not going to count this year as a loss.
Absolutely! That's a good way to look at it.

>226 tiffin: I'm not going to be much further ahead Tui. I have three short books in the pile I may read before Christmas, and a tome will then take me to the end of the year probably. I may make 70 reads only because there are some poetry volumes in the pile too.

Absolutely it was a successful year.

Hi, Tui. I'll likely make it to the end of the year with 75, having done a lot of stuff but nothing I'd care to write home about if I were not already home. On the other hand, I'm making it to the end of the year, and we're all well and happy, so life is good!

>226 tiffin: I love your wisdom as always, Tui. I was feeling a bit disappointed that my 12 year streak of reading at least 100 books a year will come to an end. Overall this has been a very enjoyable and productive year, though, and I've been blessed in very many ways, so 2015 has been anything but a "failure"!

Besides that, how many people outside of LT Land do any of us know who have read 65 books this year, or in any year?

Thanks for putting things in proper perspective. *smooch*

Well Laura, Caro, Peggy, and Darryl, it's all about the life well lived, isn't it? I have had years when I have read more but I didn't garden well. I like the balance I have achieved this year. The older I get, the more I want the contentment that comes from balance. My yins need their yangs. But I do so appreciate your understanding and support. Growing cataracts are a reality these days as well, so I treat my eyes more gently than I did when I was young and immortal, burning the midnight oil into the wee hours of the morning.

I read a lot of fluff this year but I was entertained and amused by it, so it was good purposeful fluff. No guilt. I have read Spenser, Milton, Chaucer, Blake, Donne, Shakespeare (every blessed play and poem), the Bible cover to cover, Yeats, Keats, Shelley, Byron and on, and on, and on. Even Ulysses. So if playing off planet or in alternative realities means I'm having a second childhood, well hey! I just hope that second childhood might one day contain another Lord of the Rings, the trilogy which illuminated my teens with such beautiful language and such a glorious tale.

>231 tiffin: Well said, Tui!

I'm not going to make my _target, either, because of some very bad weeks and some very good weeks, both of which derailed my reading considerably. The first of those -- well, that's life, and sometimes you just have to give yourself the time you need to grieve and not demand of yourself that you function at 120% all the time. The good stuff? Well, it's nice to remember that good times don't always come between the pages of a book. There are still ways in which I could make my world better or happier, but I certainly don't feel short-changed on the reading front, at least on the quantity side. I will say that I had fewer books that wowed me, and I'm not altogether sure why.

If you're still interested in trying Dorothy Cannell, try Down the Garden Path. It's one of her early books (and better ones), a stand alone novel and yes, involves gardeners! The first Ellie Haskell mystery was The Thin Woman, which was still a bit twee, but which I absolutely loved. I did eventually give up on the series, though.

I'm about to read the latest (just published) Max Tudor mystery.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

For my Christmas/Hanukkah/Solstice/Holiday image this year (we are so diverse!), I've chosen this photograph by local photographer Mark Lenoce of the pier at Pacific Beach to express my holiday wishes to you: Peace on Earth and Good Will toward All!

Happy Christmas Tui!

Merry Happy from the newest member of the clan!

Tenzing Norcat investigates the tree:

Merry Christmas and Happy, Happy New Year, Tui!

Oh I missed all of your lovely greetings because I've been up to my eyebrows with Christmas here. Thank you very much, all of you. I'll try to get around to your threads for a visit now that the madness has died down.

64. Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler



Bantam paperback, 356 pages

This was delightful! And it's a relatively big series so there is more to come. Very witty, very well written, with excellent characters. This first book is set during WWII. The Peculiar Crimes Unit of London, England, gets the crimes to solve (usually murders) which no one else wants to handle. Arthur Bryant heads the team in his early twenties, something of a nerd crossed with a misfit. He is joined by John May and rejoined by Janice Longbright as the team endeavours to solve the mystery of a series of murders in a prominent theatre. All around them while the play is in the process of being staged, Londoners are dealing with the Blitz.

This is the story of the beginning of a lifelong friendship between Bryant and May. But make no mistake: it's also a cracking good mystery. The second book awaits!

I must get back to the Fowler series. I enjoyed the first one some time ago. They are an excellent pair.

>241 tiffin: oh, that's tempting.

I'm so glad you liked the Bryant and May, Tui. I listened to the entire series, and I really enjoyed them.

I'm tickled to pieces because I inherited this one and at least one other. Thanks for steering me in a good direction, Tui.

Well, another year comes to an end. I didn't read as many as I have in other years but I'm still in the game. Older eyes!

I'll be carrying on here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/210778#5397432

Looking forward to continuing the year with my reading chums and wishing all of you the best.